Mike Mansfield Democratic Mike Mansfield Democratic The 1966 United States Senate elections were elections on November 8, 1966, for the United States Senate which occurred midway through the second (and only full) term of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

A competitive election ensued, featuring campaign appearances by former Vice-President Richard M. Nixon on behalf of Percy.

[9][10] Walker, who voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ran on the right of Eastland and solely focused on the white vote, accusing him of not being hard enough in opposing integration and being friendly with President Johnson, accusations to which Eastland partisans opposed the fact Walker nominated a black constituent, Marvell Lang, to the Air Force Academy.

[13] Eastland cast the civil rights movement with the tar of Communism and Black Power and raised the bloody shirt of Reconstruction against the candidacy of Walker.

[12][15] A sore-loser law was invoked against Whitley, who ran in the Democratic primary, and he only won one week before the election, thereby preventing to enter any serious campaign or fundraising.

He won the Democratic primary uncontested, and moved on to the general election, where he was opposed by Tim Babcock, the Republican nominee and the Governor of Montana.

Though the race remained close, Metcalf was able to expand on his 1960 margin of victory, and defeated Babcock to win a second term.

[20] On the seventh anniversary of his inauguration as Oregon's 29th governor, Hatfield announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

[21] In his announcement, Hatfield focused on the economic achievements in the state since his election, citing record-high employment and the creation of 138,000 jobs.

[23] Hatfield's views on the war had been strongly affected by his own experiences: as a U.S. Navy ensign in World War II, he had been among the first to walk through the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima; in a later assignment in Vietnam, he saw first-hand how imperialism led to incredible disparity, with countless Vietnamese living in poverty next to opulent French mansions.

[26] In his speech announcing his candidacy, Duncan reiterated his strong support for President Lyndon B. Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War with its goal of stopping Communist expansion in Asia.

When the results were announced, Duncan won by a nearly 2–1 margin in one of the first elections in which the Vietnam War was a central issue.

[30] The general election was now set up between two participants whose views on the Vietnam War were in direct opposition to many in their party: Duncan, a pro-war Democrat and Hatfield, an anti-war Republican.

"[23][33] Duncan also stressed that his election was necessary to provide a pro-Government voice for Oregon to counteract the anti-war views of Senator Morse.

[33][36] By the middle of the summer, fueled by the departure of Republican hawks (such as former Oregon State Treasurer and 1962 Senate candidate Sig Unander who wholeheartedly endorsed Duncan), and with a strong majority of voters in the state already registered as Democrats, Duncan surged to a lead in most polls.

[37][38] In his victory speech, Hatfield maintained that the vote was not a referendum on the war and that "neither Hanoi nor Washington should misread the results.

The two Democrats who could have defeated Thurmond competed against each other in the special election to serve the remaining two years of Olin D. Johnston's six-year term.

Senator Strom Thurmond faced no opposition from South Carolina Republicans and avoided a primary election.

Morrah faced an uphill struggle against Senator Thurmond because the Democratic resources were primarily poured into the special election to help Fritz Hollings and in the gubernatorial contest for Robert Evander McNair.

Morrah was easily dispatched by Thurmond in the general election and he also lost re-election to his state senate seat.

In the 1962 gubernatorial election, Donald S. Russell had stated that he would serve out a full term and not seek a higher office.

First, the state was dominated by the Democratic Party and any Republican politician faced a tough time seeking election.

Nevertheless, most of the resources of the Republican party were allocated for Strom Thurmond's re-election campaign and Joseph O. Rogers Jr.'s unsuccessful gubernatorial election bid.

Hollings's first Senate victory was also his closest and he was easily re-elected in 1968 (full term), 1974, 1980, and 1986, with somewhat tougher races in 1992 and 1998, although neither with a margin as narrow as that of his initial election.

He eventually became seventh longest-serving senator in history (just behind Robert Byrd, Thurmond, Ted Kennedy, Daniel Inouye, Carl Hayden and John C. Stennis).

Because of this, despite his length of service, Hollings spent 36 years as the junior Senator, even though - with his penultimate term - he had gained seniority of all but four of his colleagues - Byrd, Thurmond, Inouye and Kennedy.

Byrd defeated Republican Lawrence M. Traylor and independent candidate John W. Carter, and was able to finish the rest of his father's term.